PLoS ONE (Jan 2022)

Household factors and the risk of severe COVID-like illness early in the U.S. pandemic.

  • Denis Nash,
  • Saba Qasmieh,
  • McKaylee Robertson,
  • Madhura Rane,
  • Rebecca Zimba,
  • Sarah G Kulkarni,
  • Amanda Berry,
  • William You,
  • Chloe Mirzayi,
  • Drew Westmoreland,
  • Angela Parcesepe,
  • Levi Waldron,
  • Shivani Kochhar,
  • Andrew R Maroko,
  • Christian Grov,
  • CHASING COVID Cohort Study Team

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271786
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 7
p. e0271786

Abstract

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ObjectiveTo investigate the role of children in the home and household crowding as risk factors for severe COVID-19 disease.MethodsWe used interview data from 6,831 U.S. adults screened for the Communities, Households and SARS/CoV-2 Epidemiology (CHASING) COVID Cohort Study in April 2020.ResultsIn logistic regression models, the adjusted odds ratio [aOR] of hospitalization due to COVID-19 for having (versus not having) children in the home was 10.5 (95% CI:5.7-19.1) among study participants living in multi-unit dwellings and 2.2 (95% CI:1.2-6.5) among those living in single unit dwellings. Among participants living in multi-unit dwellings, the aOR for COVID-19 hospitalization among participants with more than 4 persons in their household (versus 1 person) was 2.5 (95% CI:1.0-6.1), and 0.8 (95% CI:0.15-4.1) among those living in single unit dwellings.ConclusionEarly in the US SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, certain household exposures likely increased the risk of both SARS-CoV-2 acquisition and the risk of severe COVID-19 disease.